Scattered
by Nishinn
Summary: The camps are in ruin. The demigods are scattered. Olympus is under siege. The gods were wrong, Gaea was never really defeated. She took a hit, sure, but she got what she needed-the blood of Olympus. The world is thrown into an apocalypse where monsters now rule and demigods are near extinction. It's an apocalypse Percy fears he might have to face alone, separated from his family.
1. Chapter 1

**The camps are in ruin. The demigods are scattered. Olympus is under siege. The gods were wrong, Gaea was never really defeated. She took a hit, sure, but she got what she needed-the blood of Olympus. With Tartarus, entire cities are in chaos and filled with monsters. Even death isn't an escape. It's an apocalypse Percy fears he might have to face alone, separated from his family.**

… _ **Scattered**_ _ **….**_

 _How many days has it been…?_

 _Weeks…? Have weeks gone by?_

 _But the monsters… how much more can I kill?_

 _Ugh, here comes one now._

He raised his sword just in time, slicing the empousa's head clean off. He was too used to the monster dust to brush it off.

He was sick of them. Sick of those monsters. They tried to kill him every ten minutes. He was sick of hiding too, but he didn't have much of a choice, he was too drained to fight off more than two at a time.

He was even sick of ambrosia. He'd taken too much these past days and it was starting to churn around in his system. He didn't want to take anymore.

Percy groaned as his vision started to blur. He leaned on the concrete wall at his side, doubling over almost immediately.

"Sit down, Jackson." He scolded himself in a weak whisper. "You're killing yourself."

He didn't really know exactly where he was. He left California maybe two weeks ago after the bombing. He tried to follow the highway but soon he was bombarded with monsters. He had to hide. He had to get to New York.

He'd found one of those tourist maps at a monster infested Seven-Eleven by the roadside. He'd killed off the monsters, of course, and followed the map as best he could. He may be twenty-eight, but his dyslexia still bugged him most of the time.

Eventually he ended up in some random subdivision when he was trying to get to an abandoned gas station/gift shop. He found some scattered monster dust around the parking lot and saw the shelves have been raided.

Obviously some demigods' work. But then…

 _Could Annabeth have gone through here? Could little Luke… no he couldn't have…_

The constant thought of the family he might've left behind was more painful than anything else Gaea could've brought. It constantly nagged at the back of his mind and haunted his dreams. It settled at the pit of his stomach and choked his lungs.

He felt tempted to just sit down and cry, to let the pain out. He wanted to wake up and know it was all just a dream. But it wasn't. He had to go on.

Now, back on the streets, Percy plopped down on the sidewalk and rubbed his hand over his face. He decided to crawl into an alleyway and sit there until the nausea passed.

He was fairly sure it was the Oreo-and-coke-diet he'd had since taking to the streets. Or the blood loss. Or both.

"Ugh," he groaned as his head pulsed with pain. It'd been about fifteen minutes before it finally subsided and he was able to stand.

His headaches had grown more and more painful over the past few days, becoming lengthier and more sudden.

It was probably the lack of sleep.

Percy decided to move on. He was fine. He could handle it… right?

The eerie silence wasn't comforting. It made him jump every time a monster-roar was heard behind him, breaking the quiet. He didn't dare make a sound himself. It just seemed… disturbing- how his footsteps echoed down an alleyway, the loud, lonely _clank_ of a soda can he dropped, even his ragged breathing every time the headaches strike.

The cities… they were deserted. Every town, every building seemed void of people. Sometimes Percy felt like he was the one human left alive in the world, though he hoped not.

He was left alone to his thoughts, walking down the sidewalk, until he heard the growl.

 _Hellhound._ He snapped to attention.

There it was, crouched in the doorway of an innocent-enough house just a few feet from Percy. Its glowing red eyes were fixated on him, mouth snarling and fizzling with reddish foam.

Percy cracked his knuckles, uncapped Riptide, and charged. He killed it easily with one swing of his sword. Its claws managed to scratch his shoulder, but he was fine.

The doorway of that house, light-blue and covered with monster dust, was wide open. Curiosity got the best of him, so naturally, he took a peek inside.

The living room seemed normal enough, though disorganized. Three couches, a coffee table, and a flat-screen TV on the wall. To his right was a flight of stairs and across the room was, what he guessed, a kitchen doorway.

Walking further in, he found an incomplete Lego house by the sofa, a fallen pile of magazines, a broken wooden chair and, well, blood. On the floor. Smeared across the carpeting and trailing into the kitchen.

He felt a chill run through him at the sight , but it was as if some force compelled him to look in further.

So, braving himself and taking a deep breath, he surged into the kitchen.

There, slumped against the kitchen sink, was the bloodied body of a girl. Most of the red substance was on her stomach and leg. In one hand she loosely held a glowing golden long sword.

 _Demigod._

Percy felt sick to his stomach. The red foam on that hellhound's mouth… it was blood. This girl's blood.

Carefully he kneeled next to the girl and laid his sword down. He brushed off the shoulder-length hair from her face to get a better look. Her face… he felt his stomach churn.

"G-Gwen…?" His voice cracked. Tenderly, he held her cheek with his own calloused hand. "No… H-how…?"

His heart sank. One of his closest friends- dead. Or… was she?

His hands immediately moved to her neck and wrist, checking for a pulse…

Nothing. He sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his head against the wall. He opened them, just a crack, to survey the kitchen.

Sunlight from the window above the sink streamed into the room, shimmering on the golden monster dust scattered around the floor.

That's it. There must've been more of them and that one hellhound found an opening. It managed to kill her.

He stayed like that for a moment, just resting against the wall trying not to look down on his friend's body. He felt the blood from his own wound ooze down his arm in little red streams.

"Gwen…" Percy sighed again, just a little goodbye. He didn't expect an answer.

"P-Percy…" Her voice was hoarse, blood pooling out of her mouth. All his senses were suddenly alert. He sat up and held her shoulders, intent on healing her.

He started to press down her wound, but she shook her head. "No." she managed weakly, and he stopped. His insides were too numb to protest.

"I…" she coughed up more blood, shaking violently. Percy held her. "The camp's gone." She said. "I-It's all…"

"Gwen-"

"No, Percy…" He had to strain his ears to hear her, as she spoke barely above a whisper. "The mortals… they-they haven't… upstairs… see f-for yourself…"

But he didn't understand. All he cared about at the moment was talking her back into living. "Gwen, no, don't. This… This isn't fair. You had a family and you're…" his gaze dropped to her stomach, eyes widening in horror as realization struck.

"You… you were supposed to…"

"At least she won't get to see this… this horror-world…" she smiled, her gaze already far away. Her hand rested on her wounded stomach as she began to close her eyes.

"Gwen. Gwen, no!

"You… you had a family!" He said desperately, trying to get her back.

"So did you…" she muttered, her smile holding. "We still do…but death… isn't an escape…" she coughed again. "I can see it now, Percy… it's all… it's all punishment… Tartarus has taken control… Hades… Hades has fled…

"Upstairs," she pleaded, looking straight into his eyes. And for the last time, Percy saw the warrior in her. He saw the fierce gaze of this once Roman Legionaire, the leader who backed down to no monster. He saw the leader of the fifth cohort who once led him into battle at the War Games. For at this moment, it would be the last time anyone would ever see that warrior again.

"And… one last thing…" she breathed, closing her eyes. "Don't die."

* * *

He had tried to clean off as much blood from Gwen's wounds as he could and wrapped her body in a white blanket. He found a marker in the lower bedroom and drew an SPQR symbol on the cloth at her chest. It would have to pass for a shroud.

He tied up his own wound and made for the stairs.

It was quiet in the house. Looking up he could see three doors at the top, one shut and two wide open.

Tentatively, Percy began his climb. The stairs creaked under his shoes at every step. The railing was evenly painted, if not a little rough. He noticed a few framed pictures hanging in an ascending row on the wall at his other side.

He stopped mid-way to examine a frame. It was the typical family picture- mom and dad on the sofa with two kids.

The next picture was of a girl with curly brown hair and green eyes in a glittery-pink dress. She was the older sister in the family picture. The girl seemed to be standing on a stage, roses at her feet and a medal around her neck. She must've won a contest of some sort.

Percy left the frames and climbed up the last few steps. He went straight into the room in front of him. It seemed to be a children's room, empty save for a bed, desk and an open toybox.

The next one seemed to be a girl's room with pink walls, a lavender bed, a bookshelf and a desk. The walls were decorated with posters of romance novels and movies, shirtless actors and One Direction.

Typical girl's room.

It seemed normal at first glance, until he saw the window on the left wall. It was wide open, and out of it looked the girl from the photo downstairs. She had a terrified look on her face and seemed to be frozen where she stood, probably because she was.

Nervously, Percy approached the girl. Looking closer, he noticed that she was tinged with grey- not only her skin, but her clothes and hair and eyes. It was as if she was covered in a grey spider web.

He left her there and decided to go to the next room. It was locked, so he kicked it open. After a few hits, it gave way.

It was obviously the parents' bedroom. Same as the girl, the two adults stood frozen in a grey haze, gaping in horror out the window. The mother had her arms raised, as if shielding herself from something. At their feet was a little boy, staring up at his parents in confusion.

He felt sorry for this family. They didn't deserve to be pulled so suddenly from their normal, happy lives and into a reign of chaos. He knew once Gaea gained full power the mortals would regain consciousness and be forced into slavery.

"All mortals," Percy decided, speaking out loud. "All of them are like this. Must've woken up in the middle of the night to some… some horror outside. Turned them half to stone."

He touched the little boy's hair. It was solid and cold, like marble. So was the rest of his body. So was every other mortal's.

* * *

He took what he could from the kitchen and filled up a sling bag he found in the parents' closet. He took the father's jacket as well, just for warmth. Other than that, he didn't dare take anything else.

He burned Gwen's body in the backyard- the proper burial custom, with the money and speech and everything.

He made to leave, but stopped when he saw it was sundown. The clock in the living room read 5:52pm. Spending the night in a house for once wouldn't be so bad now, would it?

He made sure to lock all the doors and windows, barricading them for extra security. He made himself comfortable on the couch since he wasn't particularly enthusiastic about sleeping in a room with frozen humans.

He cooked up some chicken and ate that with bread. It tasted _way_ better than anything he's salvaged on the road.

Finally he snuggled up on the couch, staring at the ceiling. He left the lamp open to give him a little light. He kept his stuff on the coffee table and he had Riptide in his hand, in pen-form of course.

He fiddled with it for a while, left alone to his thoughts. Slowly, he started slipping off into a dream. It was the one he relived every night, and it was too late to pull back now…

* * *

 **So how's that for a first chapter? XD**

 **So first I'd like to thank you all for reading. Please review and tell me what you think!**

 **And second I'd like to apologize to those who are waiting on Just Trust Me, my other story. I'll try to update soon, but my mind's blank on that at the moment.**

 **So this is like an apocalypse story that I failed to fully explain in this first chapter, hehe. Sorry. But I promise more explanations shall be given in the second chapter.**

 **Percy's 28 by the way.**

 **~LeFabulousApolloChild XD**


	2. Chapter 2

**YAY your reviews make me so happy! Yes you two who reviewed first,** **0fictionluver0 and Girl123. I swear I had minimum confidence in this story at first, but those reviews gave me hope. XD (what, too dramatic?)**

 **So yeah thanks for reading this and read-on! I'll update again maybe this weekend.**

 **Remember, it's an apocalypse scenario. XD**

 _ **WARNING:**_ **swearwords**

* * *

It wasn't that horrible at first. In fact, it was paradise, though Percy knew better.

There he was in the living room of his home. It was beautiful. That was to be expected, of course, since Annabeth had designed it herself.

A wide and lush front garden and a stone pathway leading up to the porch lay just behind the low front gate. The front door was made of dark oak and carved with the design of an owl and a trident. The house itself, painted in a swirl of grayish-blue, was two floors high with an elegant balcony.

Percy was looking out the window in the corner. There was a comfy little sofa there and a lamp on the broad window sill. It was his Wise Girl's favorite reading-nest and place of solitude.

He would sit there and have coffee from time to time, usually on rainy days. He would look out the window and watch the streets of New Rome. He had an easy view of the SPQR flag rising high above the senate house on the other side of the valley, having the sunset sky as a background.

But this time, he took his little Luke with him.

The small child cradled in his arms was, more or less, peaceful. He was awake, green eyes staring curiously out the window, but he wasn't squirming and crying as he usually did- not too much anyway.

"See that, Luke?" Percy whispered to his son, smoothening down the wisp of blond hair on his head. "That's the sunset. That's your first sunset. You like it?"

As if in response, the six month old toddler giggled. He raised up his small chubby arms, grasping at Percy's nose. He laughed.

Then suddenly, the baby was crying.

Percy frowned. He thought he finally did something right, then he'd somehow fucked up again. "Really Luke?" he sighed.

The words had barely gotten out of his mouth when he heard the cries. Outside the window he spotted at least four airborne monsters. These were huge and feathery with glinting talons he could spot from inside his house.

He froze, holding Luke in his arms. He watched in horror as one of the monsters dropped something from its talons, right above the roof of the senate house.

A massive explosion shook the valley, causing little Luke to cry even louder. Chunks of stone and marble flew up in huge green flames hitting and collapsing other buildings. Another bomb was dropped, even closer this time. Debris the size of Percy's head started falling into his front yard.

It was time to go.

"Annabeth!" He called, standing abruptly. He made for the staircase, climbing up halfway. "Annabeth!"

"Percy!" Her faint cry was enough to send him charging up the stairs.

Then met at the top of the staircase and he wrapped her in a hug. "Oh gods, Wise Girl are you okay?" he asked, panic rising in his voice.

"I'm fine, I'm okay." She reassured him, giving a confident smile. He couldn't help but admire how beautiful she was at the moment. Her grey eyes were serious and calculating, her golden curls hung down her shoulders and her knee-cut dress seemed perfect on her.

Another explosion shook the house and they had to back into the hallway.

Annabeth took the child from Percy, cradling little Luke in her arms. "It's okay," she cooed. "Mommy and Daddy's here. You'll be okay."

He couldn't help but feel pride leap up in his heart at the "Mommy and Daddy" comment. He still couldn't comprehend that finally, after everything they've been through, he and Annabeth got the future they've always dreamed about. It was finally happening. He could've breathed and said "Nothing could possible ruin this." But apparently, he jinxed it.

Percy snapped back to reality and remembered the bombing going on outside.

"Annabeth," he held his wife's shoulders. "We have to leave. Now."

They were halfway down the stairs when the front door burst open. A hoard of monsters streamed into the house snarling and growling. Dracanae, empousai, hellhounds and every other ugly the two demigods have encountered, they were all there and out for blood.

"H-how?" Annabeth gasped. "The boundary… oh gods."

The two demigods ran up the stairs with their child and back into the hallway.

"The balcony."Percy decided. "Get to the balcony. We have to get down that way."

"How?" Annabeth questioned. "There'll be more monsters outside. And we can't jump with Luke."

"The back window then. I'll jump down and get the ladder in the backyard for you two."

"Go!"

They raced to the end of the hall and Percy pried the widow open. The jump wouldn't be too high, and he could land in that leaf pile he raked up earlier.

"Be careful, Seaweed Brain."

"I'll be fine." He gave her his signature smirk, maybe for the last time, and looked out the window.

One foot on the ledge and he heard it- a screech from above which might've been a laugh. He looked up to see one of those airborne monsters drop a large glass tube the size of his leg. It was filled with a swirling green liquid that loo…. _Greek Fire Bomb._

"RUN!" He dove back in the window, pulling Annabeth along with him. "RUN! FASTER!" they stumbled down the hallway, just a few feet from the window and the explosion happened.

The wall collapsed behind them along with the floor. Percy kept running, then his grasp on Annabeth's arm slipped.

"Percy!"

Too late. He didn't catch her in time. The rubble and smoke blocked his view and soon the floor he stood on collapsed as well.

"Annabeth!" he called desperately, pushing off the chunk of concrete that fell on his leg. He coughed, trying to wipe the smoke out of his eyes.

The ringing in his ears started to fade but the screams of people and howls of monsters filled them. The dust started to clear and he could see the remnants of his house, his home.

"Annabeth!" he called again.

A hiss of laughter sounded behind him followed by a scream. A child's scream.

There it was, a grotesque snake-lady clutching the little toddler in her claws.

"NO! LET GO OF HIM!" Percy yelled, breaking into a run. A part of the remaining ceiling broke off at the worst possible moment and landed on him, pinning his legs to the floor.

She tossed the little child around in her claws, enjoying the look of horror on its father's face. The blood streaming down the side of its head was tempting, oh so tempting.

Percy watched, sobbing, crying out hysterically as the dracaenae stopped, clutching the child in her one hand, the other raised above its chest. Her claws glinted black in the night, raising them high and higher until…. She brought them down.

* * *

Percy couldn't stop the scream that escaped his lips at that moment.

He flung the blanket off and sat up abruptly. He was covered in cold sweat. His hands shook, his heart rate elevated.

He sat there for a moment, letting his breathing calm down. He looked around for a moment, trying to remember where he was.

Ah, yes. The house, the family… Gwen.

He felt like screaming out again at the memory of yesterday. He remembered Gwen's body, all the blood, and that hellhound. Well, at least he killed it.

He remembered what she said, about it all being punishment. He pondered her words over and over.

Hades has fled… something drove him out, out of the Underworld. That would mean everything gets blown into chaos and the souls won't be segregated. You'll be punished, no matter who you are.

If what Gwen said was true, and what Percy guessed was right, then that would mean no escape. You couldn't commit suicide because down there would be worse. You would have a far better chance at life than death.

" _Even death… isn't an escape…"_

" _And one last thing… don't die."_

He shivered. Then his fear turned into rage. "That earth-goddess bitch," he spat. "Clever, though. Driving Hades out like that and taking over the Underworld… so there would be no escape. She would hold dominion over _everything._ "

Despite his situation, he laughed. Yet it was a bitter laugh, filled with disgust and rage. He wanted nothing more than to send her back into a permanent comma and live on another planet for a change- one without any gods trying to rise and kill him.

Percy sighed and turned to the clock.

 _7:18am._

"Better get moving." He muttered to himself and folded up the sheets. He laid the blankets neatly on the sofa and gathered his stuff.

He decided to have some breakfast before heading out- just some buttered toast and fried eggs. He left at around 7:40 and was off to a relatively good start.

* * *

Just a few hours later he was out of the subdivision and back into the woods. He found the highway again but decided against taking it, though he followed it, keeping a safe distance in case there were monsters nearby.

Eventually, the trees turned into buildings and the ground turned into pavement. He was in a city again, but he wasn't sure _what_ city, he just climbed over a fence.

There were people here, yes, but all frozen in a grey web- just like the family. But that wasn't the scary part.

All of them were staring upwards at the sky, looking terrified. Some were shielding their faces with their arms, some stood agape. Hundreds of faces stared out apartment and home windows, all looking up at the sky in fear.

Percy shivered involuntarily. He hugged his borrowed-or-stolen jacket closer around him. He'd been walking for _hours_ now and the sun was getting low. He needed to make camp somewhere, or at least borrow a house.

* * *

Over the past few days, the "borrowing houses" thing was becoming a habit, though it was effective.

It kept the monsters out and he didn't get hypothermia. Percy considered "borrowing" a car to get to Camp easier, but decided against it. It would draw more attention if he was trying to stay hidden.

Finally, after about eight days from the house where Gwen died, Percy was getting tired of not knowing where he was. He'd decided to go forward, following the main highway until he saw a sign that read "TO NEW YORK" or something similar, but the monsters always kept him at bay. Sometimes he had to turn aside for the sake of not being demigod-dinner, then he would have the labor of trying to find the highway again.

He was _sick_ of it.

Percy had left the highway again and gone into the city, just to find a grocery store or a Seven-Eleven to restock. He was running out of food and water and had barely a square of ambrosia left.

He eventually came to a small grocery store just a few paces from the highway. There seemed to be no monsters inside or in the surrounding area, so he figured it was safe.

He tried to ignore the horrified faces of innocent shoppers drawn to the window and frozen in grey haze, leaving their groceries behind.

He managed to fill up his backpack with water bottles, cookies, chips, instantly edible canned food and a bunch of other stuff. He replaced his backpack as well with something more durable. He also decided to change his scratched-up, bloody clothes for more comfort on the road.

Finally, he started to head out. He took one last look at the frozen mortals, gaping out the large glass window which displayed home appliances for sale. There were mothers and their kids and people in line at the cashier. The guy at the head of the line was apparently about to pay for his groceries, wallet out and open when it happened.

Instantly an idea flashed itself into Percy's mind.

He approached the guy at the counter, trying to ignore his look of utter fear. The wallet was still fine, free from the grey web that covered the rest of the man. He yanked it out of the guy's grasp and took a peek inside, ignoring the fallen money.

He grinned, finding what he needed- the man's driver's license.

"Peter Y. Salvador," he muttered as he read, squinting at the small print. "Age 32, blah blah blah… Brooklyn." He blinked, putting the wallet back down on the counter. "I'm in Brooklyn."

He did a silent fist-pump instead of cheering out loud. He was so happy that he was on the right track all along. If he followed the highway down further it could lead him to either Brooklyn Bridge or Manhattan Bridge and he would be in New York.

Then from there he'd have to travel uptown from Broadway, maybe pass the Empire State building, and get to his old apartment to check on his mom before heading to Camp Half-Blood.

His mom…

Oh gods _his mom._

She would definitely have been frozen by now, along with Paul. Suddenly Percy's vision darkened and he felt the ground slip from under his feet.

"Ugh, not now." He groaned and sat down, his back to the cashier.

He had not only Annabeth, Luke and the Camps to worry about but his mom and Paul too. Then there were the headaches…

If only he could contact them via Iris Message, but he soon found out, just a few days from Camp Jupiter, that Gaea had taken Iris's domain and now watches every Iris Message established. He was lucky the empousai were the monster equivalent of high school gossip-girls.

Now no demigod was safe. He still wondered how the monsters got passed Terminus and how numerous they were. They drove him from Camp Jupiter that easily so he couldn't turn back and find Annabeth, only leaving him to hope that she made it out alive.

His thoughts panned back to Gwen, how she escaped but was soon killed. What if that happened to Annabeth too? What if…?

 _No. Stop. It's just making the headache worse._

After what seemed like hours, his nausea finally passed. He was able to stand and get out of the store. It was still morning, just before noon. If there were little monsters, he could get to the bridge by maybe tomorrow.

He had high hopes despite the apocalypse he was in. He was fairly certain the only reason Gaea hasn't killed him yet was because the demigods were scattered across her entity, so were the monsters. It's like lice on your head, he figured. You know they're there, but just can't pinpoint where they are exactly, unless they do some huge, attention-catching damage.

She was still weak. She was awake, but weak. Leo, Jason and Piper did some damage at the war. They took a huge amount of strength out of her, but she got what she needed. She got the blood.

She has the battery, now all she needs to do is charge it.

* * *

 **Well wasn't that fun!**

 **Oh, yes baby Luke died. And yes I planned it all along. And no I'm not sure I'm entirely sorry. Yes, tragedy in the second chapter. Oh, yes it was heavily considered. And no, I don't want you to hate me. Please don't.**

 **Okay, you can but at least love the story.**

 **XD**

 **If you have questions about Annabeth that'll be answered pretty soon in the next few chapters. *wink wink***

 **REVIEW!**

 **~Apollo'sDaughterOfFabulosity**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, so this** _ **WARNING**_ **goes for the** _ **entire story**_ **: there shall be swearwords occasionally here and there depending on the mood.**

 **And so is this disclaimer: I DON'T OWN PJO AND NEVER WILL. I also do NOT own any branded stuff mentioned here like Oreos, 'cuz I'm not a multi-manufacturer-company owner.**

 **So since I think I've cleared the requirements for fanfiction we're good to go!**

* * *

"Oh _shit!_ " Percy gasped, ducking behind an immobile car on the road.

The monsters were _everywhere._ The bridge was a freaking telkhine and dracaenae nest. They infested every surrounding street of the Brooklyn Bridge on both sides. There were also campfires dotting the bridge itself, some of them roasted spits of mystery meat and Percy prayed it wasn't skinned demigod.

He was almost caught by two passing snake-women before he even registered what was before him. There were too many to fight. If he drew any attention to himself he knew he'd be killed in seconds.

There was no way to cross here, it would be suicide.

He had to leave and at least try the Manhattan Bridge, but it could be infested too. And if that was the case he'd never reach New York.

He was so _close._ So freaking close.

It was just over that bridge but _no._ There had to be monsters.

Percy muttered a curse and turned back, retracing his steps by the highway, slinking here and there from alleyway to alleyway.

Eventually he reached the fork in the road with the sign "TO MANHATTAN BRIDGE/ TO BROOKLYN BRIDGE".

It was just after noon, maybe around one o'clock, so he decided to take a break. He slunk into an alleyway for shade and took a water bottle to quench his thirst. He ate three Oreos for his lunch and a tidbit of ambrosia.

After a five minute rest he decided to keep moving.

Just a few hours later, with occasional breaks, he finally reached the Manhattan Bridge. Unfortunately, it was also overrun with monsters. It was the same scenario as the Brooklyn Bridge and Percy had to stifle a scream. A violent, frustrated, swearword-filled scream.

"Really?" He muttered under his breath, looking up at the sky. "Are you serious?" He really didn't know who he was cursing at, maybe Zeus or the Olympians, though he really didn't care.

He was just _really_ tired and _really_ frustrated.

He slipped a little way back into the city and sat under a roofed doorway out of the monsters' view.

He decided to have a little sip of water and a can of ready-to-eat sausages.

As he ate his food, he tried to think of another way. He couldn't bypass those monsters, even if he could fly. They'd see him and shoot him down. Plus it could draw Gaea's attention and make things worse. He had a nagging hunch that Queen Dirt-Face had put those monsters there on purpose, whatever the reason.

Circling around for the other bridges would be a waste of valuable time, especially if all the ways into Manhattan were secured by monsters.

He could try the coastline, but on his way to the bridges he saw monsters guarding it too, every dock and water way.

It seemed that his only option was to skip New York and get to Camp Half-Blood.

His heart sank at the thought of his mother- in that city, most likely frozen in the grey web, unprotected and alone. Well, she could be with Paul but he would be frozen too.

Percy sighed and threw his empty sausage can into a nearby trash bin. We'll he'd better get going.

He was gathering his stuff when a huge, wet, slimy thing ran across his left side.

" _GROSS!"_ He exclaimed, falling back. A loud ear-bursting _bark!_ was thrown in his face before he could even recover.

"Mrs. O'Leary, come on!" He groaned, trying to wipe off the dog-drool.

The huge, black hellhound wagged its tail and sat down giving another bark.

Cracking a smile, Percy got up and praised his dog, giving Mrs. O'Leary a good old-fashioned dog-rubbing.

"How did you find me, huh?" He asked with a little laugh to his words. It had been weeks since he even cracked a smile. The familiar sight of his dog made him feel a little relief from all his worries.

"You mind shadow-travelling me to mom's apartment, girl?" He asked, rubbing her ear.

Mrs. O'Leary, obviously understanding, got up and heeled forward, allowing Percy to climb onto her back.

"Let's go." He whispered gently, holding on to his pack.

* * *

"Uh, Mrs. O'Leary? This is _not_ the apartment."

They were in a forest. No, not the "concrete jungle", a literal forest with trees and dirt.

Percy sighed, but Mrs. O'Leary continued forward, her master still on her back. After a little less than a minute of walking, they came out to a familiar-looking dirt road. Broken fences lined its edge where the trees lay beyond.

Not far down the road lay Half-Blood Hill where the single pine tree stood. Only it wasn't thick with green as it usually was, but stripped to the bark of life. The branches were either broken-off or singed at the edges. And neither the Golden Fleece nor Peleus the dragon was to be seen anywhere.

Percy's eyes widened in shock. He made a move to get down, but the clever hellhound had other ideas.

Mrs. O'Leary bounded forward towards the Hill, and Percy had to cling on so as to not fall off. She raced up the slope, not stopping until they reached the top and stood beside the remnants of Thalia's Tree.

Percy slipped off his hellhound's back, though he leaned against her for support. Mrs. O'Leary, in turn, sat herself down and whimpered, nestling her head between her front paws.

The sight before him drew out every last bit of hope he had left inside.

Camp Half-Blood, his home, his family, was burned down and stomped on for good measure. Everything was broken to pieces and fed to an inferno. Nothing seemed to be left standing.

The Big House's roof was broken off and splintered on the ground. The east wall was completely collapsed revealing the broken floors and walls inside. The front door and windows smashed and the porch singed with fires. Everything remaining seemed to serve as a punching bag for giants.

The mess hall's roof had been collapsed inwards, like a giant sumo wrestler decided it was a trampoline. The climbing wall was reduced to a giant pile of stone that still oozed with lava. The other buildings- the forge, the library, the arts & crafts house- all suffered the same fate of demolition via monster-invasion.

"Is it safe?" Percy asked his dog before walking down the hill. Mrs. O'Leary only looked at him sadly. It was probably safe. She made no move to stop him or get up.

Percy walked through the rubble picking his way through the debris. He felt a sob well up in his throat as he watched memories go by in his mind, all of them that happened at this wreckage.

That sunset with Annabeth… the Mess Hall was destroyed. Chiron and Mr. D playing pinchole… the Big House's porch was burnt to ashes. His first day of training with Luke… the Arena had been turned into a giant campfire, although Percy only saw the singed wood and concrete left of it.

Then there were the cabins.

It was an omega trace of wood and stone piles. The Zeus and Hera cabins were piles of burning marble. The Poseidon cabin was a bunch of stones with a split roof on top. The Demeter cabin looked like a dug-up patch of grass. The Artemis cabin was ash on deformed silver. The Apollo cabin was a stone pile with flecks of gold.

They were broken down. Badly. But there were still tell-tale signs of what cabins they used to be, whose homes they once were.

But the worst part was the bodies. He saw a few of them here and there around the camp, covered in ash and blood. But the majority of them were here, around the cabins.

This is where they must've made their last stand. This is where they were slaughtered.

At that point Percy couldn't take it anymore.

He fell to his knees as tears started to fall from his eyes. This was his _home._ He's protected it for so long. He's worked hard so many times and nearly died just as much for the sake of this camp. Then Gaea just comes back, laughs in his face, and reduces it to a pile of smoking ruble with one flick of her finger.

His friends...

Percy recognized Conner collapsed by the ruin of the Hermes cabin. His midsection was oozing with blood, and he had cuts and scrapes all over his limbs.

There was also Katie Gardner close by. She lay face-down on the grass, a huge ugly scar slashed diagonally on her back.

There was also Clarisse. She fell surrounded by her siblings in defense of their cabin. Her throat was slit and her helmet broken in half. Percy didn't dare look into it any further.

He found several others of his friends dead. He felt like dying himself, no matter what awaited him down there. But then a sudden thought rekindled a little bit of hope in him.

His other friends- Travis, Nico, Will, Lou Ellen, they weren't among the dead. Neither was Leo, Jason, Piper or Calypso. They might still be alive.

 _Or they might have ended up like Gwen._ He tried to push that thought aside and look to the positive. They might've regrouped somewhere, or at least scattered around the cities. They might've tried to get to New York City but turned and fled, or they might have succeeded.

Drying his tears and searching the camp further, he found more dead bodies, no one alive.

Finally, after another swing around, he stopped to rest at the forge, or what remained of it at least. He sat down on a stone that was once part of the roof, trying to make sense of what was happening. He thought about his friends, those who might still be alive, where they might be. Maybe they regrouped and made some sort of fort like in the Titan War. Maybe…

… wait a minute.

 _Bunker Nine._

Immediately Percy raced towards Half-Blood Hill to get Mrs. O'Leary. She was still exhausted from the last shadow travel so they settled on speed-walking through the camp.

The two made their way through the forest, taking a few wrong turns every once in a while, but finally found their way to the cliff-face. Leo had taken the Seven here once to have a little "reunion party". It had been a good meeting place since no one else knew about it.

Percy felt around the cliff face until he found the hidden panel Leo had installed. He flipped it open and immediately a hand-print scanner flickered to life- Tony Stark style. Yes, Leo had intentionally made it that way. It had the Jarvis-voice and everything.

Percy let it scan his hand and the screen blinked green.

" _Password."_ The Jarvis-voice said over the speaker.

Percy rolled his eyes at the ridiculous password. "Leo Smoking-Hot McShizzle Valdez is our Supreme Captain Commander of Fabulosity." He spoke aloud as formally as possible.

" _Welcome, Sir Kelp-Head_." The Jarvis Voice said and the panel closed.

"Really, Valdez?" Percy groaned, although he couldn't help cracking a smile at his old friend. He had specific nicknames for everyone- _Sparky Underwear, Beauty Queen, The Zhang, Hazy-Baby, Owl Face,_ and of course, _Sir Kelp-Head._

He had to admit Leo was pretty creative.

A flame traced itself on the cliff face in the pattern of a massive door, which then suddenly went out.

Percy was confused. He tried pushing on the cliff face, but the door didn't budge.

The password panel swung open and the Jarvis-voice spoke, "I'm sorry sir, but the Bunker is in lock-down mode. Please use the security door on your left." The panel closed shut again.

Before Percy could even reply, an eight foot tall door revealed itself just a few paces to the left on the cliff face. It was made of metal and had a sheer smooth surface, like an elevator door.

Percy did the instinctual thing and knocked. "Leo? Jason?Anyone?" He called.

Suddenly, the door clicked and swung open. Inside was a sleepy looking Leo Valdez, frowning at him. His eyes were still half-closed, his hair was a rats' nest and his clothes looked like they haven't been washed in weeks.

Not that Percy felt like he looked any better.

"C'mon bro." Leo whined. "The alarm scared the shit out of me, I thought it was another monster attack!"

Then he grinned and engulfed Percy in a bro-hug. "Glad to see you're alive, Jackson."

"You too, Valdez." Percy grinned back as he stepped inside, along with Mrs. O'Leary who managed to squeeze in. The door closed shut behind them. "But seriously, the Jarvis-voice, Sir Kelp-Head and that ridiculous password?"

Leo shrugged. "Can't help it."

They seemed to be in a tunnel with walls made of steel. At the end was another door similar to the one behind them.

"So, is anyone else here?" Percy questioned.

The son of Hephaestus smiled openly. "Come and see."

* * *

 **So yeah I've made a few edits here. It's a re-update since I didn't have much time to edit this chappie last night. ^_^**


	4. Chapter 4

**_..._**

The interior of Bunker Nine was the same as always, with a couple of minor changes.

Most of the loose parts, scrap metal and unfinished projects usually scattered around the Bunker had been moved to the far side in a pile to make some room.

Not far from the end of the pile were some of the more valuable projects which were stacked, more or less, neatly on a few desks. Next to those was a long table of buttons, consoles, screens and monitors which controlled things around the Bunker like weapons, alarms and hidden security cameras.

The remaining space was taken over by the demigods.

Sleeping bags, sofas and tables were laid here and there with the occasional food and weapon chest and cooler where the nectar, ambrosia and snacks were kept. There was also a stack of magical food-producing plates next to one of the chests that held swords and spears.

But despite all the provisions there were only six other people, namely Calypso, Jason, Piper, Travis, Nico and of course Leo.

There were happy greetings and hugs all around at Percy's arrival. He was relieved to see at least some of his friends still alive, though badly wounded. Nico for example was lying on one of the comfy-looking sofas, a pillow under his head. His aviator jacket hung on the armrest at his feet while a bloody bandage was wrapped around his waist.

"Spear." Nico explained with a weak smile. "Glad to see you made it, Jackson."

"Glad to see you not dead." Percy replied, setting his pack down on one of the sofas. Suddenly, something occurred to him. "Nico, did… did you send Mrs. O'Leary after me?"

Not much to his surprise Nico nodded. "Saw you in a dream a few hours ago. I knew you were alive, though lost. I don't remember it entirely, but I was pretty sure two dracaenae were about to catch you while you hid behind a car." He smirked. "Good tactic."

The rest of them chuckled weakly as Percy rolled his eyes. "I was at the Brooklyn Bridge, I think. It was overrun."

The demigods' mood darkened at the mention of the bridge. "It's Gaea." Piper said. "She's cut-off every entrance into Manhattan. We haven't heard from the gods in a while."

"The monsters invaded Camp just yesterday and took position at the bridges not long afterward." Jason chimed in, fiddling around with his sword. "We've managed to get here, in the Bunker along with Conner and Katie. They were supposed to send for the others since most of us were wounded, but they never came back. Eventually some monster clean-up scouts found the Bunker and we were held under siege for a while, until Leo and I managed to kill them off."

"Percy," Travis looked up from his unusually quiet position by an ice chest. His voice was hoarse and his eyes bloodshot. It seemed like he'd been crying. "Did you… did you see Conner out there? Or… or Katie?" He said.

A lump formed in Percy's throat. He did _not_ want to answer that question, but he knew he couldn't hide the truth. He would have to tell him sooner or later. Travis was his _friend._ A lie would just cause him more pain.

If Percy had been told Tyson was still alive, even if he was dead, then he found out the truth afterwards… well, he _would not_ be happy.

"I…" His voice caught in his throat, but he managed to force the words out. "No one was left alive, Travis. Everyone out there… all dead." He shook his head, eyes cast down. "They didn't make it."

At first, he looked angry, but not at Percy. More like at the table he was staring at. Or at Gaea. Both seemed likely. Then his gaze softened and he looked like he might break down right then and there. But he held.

"Okay." Travis said in a weak whisper. He stayed quiet for the rest of the meeting.

* * *

"As far as I know _some_ of us made it into New York before the monsters got to the bridges." Jason was giving Percy a few updates while they scavenged the camp for supplies along with Leo. Most of the news was rather gruesome and depressing, but the chance that some demigods might have made it into Manhattan brightened Percy's mood, if just a little.

But there was the matter of them being trapped in a city held under siege. Would the gods be there to help them?

 _Not likely,_ Percy smirked to himself. As if they've ever been there for their children.

"Will, Lou Ellen and the others might've made it." Leo suggested, hefting up a plank of wood collapsed from the Big House which they were currently searching through. "Maybe they might've even made another base somewhere to regroup. Maybe Chiron might be there too."

Percy almost fell over. _Chiron._ He'd forgotten about Chiron. Where could he be?

"Or maybe he's somewhere under all this rubble." Jason suggested, voicing Percy's dreaded thoughts. Quite helpful, really.

"Nah." Leo shook his head. "I saw him running around the mess hall, rallying the campers. He must've made a stand with them at the cabins."

"Well if he did," said Percy, kicking over a collapsed ceiling beam. "I didn't see his body there. No one survived, all the cabins were grinded to dust."

Jason only shrugged and went back to removing some rubble over the kitchen entrance.

The House was still mostly intact with only the east wall collapsed. Inside, the furniture was mostly broken or scattered on the floor. The staircase was half smashed, but otherwise still climbable. There were no bodies inside, thankfully.

They were scrounging the place for food, weapons, clothes, nectar, ambrosia, medicine, or anything that could be of help. Leo had managed to find some Greek Fire ingredients and a few jars to put them in. _"_ Just in case we have to fight." He said with a mischievous grin.

They put all the supplies they could find in a burlap sack they found in the mess hall, or what remained of it at least.

"Hey, check this out." Percy called to Jason, who currently had the sack. He tossed his friend a blue ceramic jar, which almost fell to the floor.

"Dude!" Jason exclaimed as he fumbled to catch it. "Don't _do_ that!"

Leo stifled a laugh. "Wuss." He whispered, causing Jason to glare at him.

"It's Katie's emergency cookies. They're infused with nectar, plus they're chocolate chip." Percy explained, stifling a laugh of his own. "She bakes them from time to time."

"Why'd you freaking _throw_ it at me then?!"

"Just put in the sack." Percy said, going back to work.

Jason grumbled, but tucked the jar of magical cookies into the sack nevertheless.

* * *

"Nico, eat up." Percy offered the jar of magical cookies out to his wounded friend who gladly took it.

"Are those Katie's emergency cookies?" Travis asked, plucking a cookie from the jar as well. Percy knew it pained him to talk about Kaite, just as it pained himself to even _think_ about Annabeth, but still he smiled. "Yeah," He confirmed. "I found them in the Big House, thought it could help."

To his relief, Travis didn't do anything remotely violent. "Can I, um, keep the jar when it's empty?" he asked nervously, keeping his voice low.

"Sure."

Travis smiled gratefully.

"So what's our next move?" Piper asked from across the room. She was busy poofing-up some food using the magical plates. They were a little bent and scratched and only gave little by little, but it would have to do for the time being. "I don't exactly want to stay trapped here doing nothing until we die."

"I don't think any of us do." Leo said, munching on a deformed hamburger without ketchup. Yes, it was from the plates. He looked around for moment, seeing if anyone would object. No one did.

"Well what _do_ we do then?" Calypso asked. She was currently re-dressing Nico's spear wound as he munched on a cookie. "We can't exactly fight off all those monsters. We'd die just trying to fight them at _one_ bridge." She said.

"I say we get into New York." Jason suggested, lazily twirling his sword in his hands. "Some of the demigods might be there- we could regroup. The gods must be there too."

Percy snorted. "The gods? How can _they_ help? They've barely even lifted a finger to protect the camps. What makes you think they'd get their asses off their thrones to help us fight Gaea?"

"I don't expect them to fight with us. But I do expect them to know to defeat Gaea, even if we have to do it ourselves. We have to know what's really going on and how we're supposed to stop it. If anyone knows what's happening, the gods should. " Jason paused for a moment, letting those words sink in. Then he grinned. "And even if they can't help us, there's the glory of shaming them for not being able to do anything about it. You know, throw some insults and cusses here and there."

"They'd vaporize us immediately." Piper pointed out.

"Well, we'll die anyway." Percy said. "I'm not letting Queen Dirt-Face take me down. If I'm dying, I'd die insulting Zeus like a boss."

"Like an idiot, you mean." Piper raised her eyebrow. "A very suicidal idiot."

Jason laughed and clapped his hands, causing Leo to chuckle along. Percy only shrugged with a fake innocent grin on his face.

"So we get into New York." Nico stated, his voice clear that the decision was made, and no one objected. "And then we march into Olympus, give the gods a big slap in the face, and ask them what's supposed to be done about the shit going on in the world."

Jason and Percy nodded.

"And if we're not completely welcomed into Olympus?" Calypso questioned. "What if we can't get in at first? What if we can't get in _at all?_ "

"Well you're awfully optimistic today." Leo noted, causing Calypso to almost slap him.

"I think Jason's right." Percy said. "We still have to get into New York. If all the entrances are being guarded, then there _has_ to be something important in the city. They're trying to keep the demigods out to protect something inside."

"So what you're saying is," Piper mused. "Gaea's fortress or weakness or whatever… it might be inside. The key to stopping her might be in Manhattan."

"Exactly." Percy nodded.

"Stab the heart." Travis said and smiled, obviously satisfied with the theories. "But how to stab the heart? We need a plan to get in."

Jason glanced over to Mrs. O'Leary who sat in the corner, happily mauling on part of a drakon she killed just outside the camp. "We could shadow-travel our way in…" he suggested.

Nico glared at him. "Do I _look_ like I can walk, much less shadow travel?!"

"Not you. Mrs. O'Leary."

"She can't take us all." Said Percy. "She was pretty exhausted just trying to shadow-travel me. I'm not sure she can take all of us. It might work if she tried us two by two, but it would be a half-hour rest before she could do it again. We could also risk ending up in the middle of the bridge where we'd be killed immediately."

"How about the coastlines?" Leo piped up. "We could snatch like a yacht and-"

"No." Percy shook his head. "Every place close to the ocean's being watched. I know, I saw."

"I'm thinking flying is out of the question?" Nico asked calmly, adjusting the bandage around his torso.

"That might work, actually." Leo nodded, going into his "thinking mode". "If we could take off somewhere out of sight of the monsters and far from the bridges, we could cross. We choose a cloudy day so we can hide above the clouds and Jason could give us some cover with them too." He was starting to get his hopes really high, formulating some blueprints in his mind, until a thought occurred to him. He frowned. "Provided there aren't any airborne monsters circling Manhattan, of course."

Collective groans were heard around the room at another good idea shut down.

"How about a cloaking device?" Calypso suggested. "Invisibility might work."

"What, like Harry Potter?" Leo raised an eyebrow.

"Harry Who?"

"No, it's Doctor Who." Leo grinned. Jason slapped him upside the head. "Sorry, couldn't help it. But Calypso, no. Cloaking… I'm not sure I can do that. Besides, I don't have the materials to work with."

The demigods in the Bunker stayed quiet for a moment, silently coming up with ideas and immediately rejecting them in their heads.

"How about distractions?" Travis muttered.

"No, we can't catch any attention. It might alert Gaea to our whereabouts and we'd be gonners." Percy said, shutting the idea down.

They stayed quiet again for another minute, until Calypso had an idea. "Call for a god." She said. All heads turned to her.

"What now?"

"Call for a god." She repeated. "Hermes, maybe. We could teleport with the help of a god. Unless you guys have better suggestions, it's the only chance we've got."

They looked at her, eyebrows raised, mouths agape.

"Like they'll _answer."_ Percy snorted. "Terminus, as far as I know, was taken down. He's probably faded. How else were the monsters able to ransack Camp Jupiter? It just means Gaea's grown that powerful."

Jason winced. "Terminus…taken down?" He asked in a small voice.

Percy's gaze dropped to the floor. "Yeah."

"She's taken the Golden Fleece too." Piper added. "Might've used up its power to destroy Camp Half-Blood…" she trailed off, noticing Percy's look.

"It's our only chance." Calypso said quietly.

"Maybe, maybe not." Percy shrugged. "Fine then. That's what we do."

"How, exactly, are we supposed to do that?" Travis questioned.

"Easy." Said Calypso. She slipped her hand in the pocket of her dress and pulled out a shiny blue coin the size of a coaster. "Hermes Coin."

* * *

 **Hehe. Hehehehe.**

 **So take your guesses XD. Sorry for not updating in a while, I'm playing the sims and trying to get Will and Nico married. So yeah read and review! XD**

 **~Apollo'sFabulousDaughter**


	5. Chapter 5

"I nearly fell off a _tree!"_ Jason growled, holding up two feathers no bigger than his pinky. "A twenty foot tall tree!" he marched into the Bunker, leaves in his hair and dirt on his clothes.

Calypso laughed and took the bird feathers from him. "Thank you." She chirped and returned to the middle of the room.

The seven of them have decided to call for godly help, as Calypso proposed, using a special coin Hermes had given her during her time in Ogygia. It was incase Calypso needed some supplies or help or had some questions that only godly service could provide. With the coin she would be able to summon Hermes directly and privately in a way that didn't involve Iris Messaging.

But apparently, to activate it, it needed the feathers of a baby bird, quite like how you need a nickel for a public phone or a drachma for an IM. Calypso, while in the Island, supposedly had at least a dozen hatchlings in her garden every week, so they weren't a problem for her. But in the ruins of Camp Half-Blood…

Well, Jason could fly.

"Well done, Sparky." Leo clapped him on the back. "You've managed to cosplay a dryad!"

Jason shoved him away, then turned to Calypso. She stood in the center of the room with the others circled around her. The couches and chests were cleared away for the sake of the ritual. In one hand she held the two bird feathers Jason had gotten and in the other a large, blue coin. It was quite similar to a drachma, but instead of an owl or omega, it had a caduceus engraved onto its side.

The demigods watched, eyes fixed on Calypso's hands as she crushed the feathers in her palm. Her thumb glided over her fingers as if feeling an invisible texture. She then smeared her fingers on both sides of the coin.

Where her fingers passed the coin's surface smoldered and burned away, though no flame was to be seen. The smoke, shimmering blue, curled upwards and fell back down. It seemed to create a wispy blue curtain that sustained itself in midair.

Calypso stepped back, falling in line with the others, the coin completely gone.

"That," Percy muttered. "Is kind of impressive."

"And this will contact Hermes _directly_?" Jason questioned, still picking out stray leaves from his hair.

"He's the god of communication." Calypso replied staying fixed on the smoke. "He has his ways. He was the least cruel god to me during my time in Ogygia. He visited, gave warnings, blah, blah, blah…Oh, look!"

The center of the smoke curtain started to clear, turning lighter and lighter until all blue had retreated to the edges, leaving a hazy gray in the middle.

An image started to form- it was a place Percy recognized.

It was an area in Central Park. There were the usual trees, benches, trashcans… then there was the marble fountain, only it had run dry and crumbled down on one side. Several people, now frozen, stared up at the sky in a permanent look of fear.

But one man wasn't frozen.

He sat on a wooden bench by the half-crumbled fountain and looked to be in his mid-30s. He wore full Greek battle armor, his helmet he carried under one arm. In the opposite hand he held a staff topped with wings and around it curled two very bored-looking snakes.

"Dad," Travis spoke first.

It was strange to see the god so… obvious. Normally they were disguised as ordinary mortals or really old men. But Hermes's current look screamed _Greek god! Almighty powerful Greek god right here! I'm not normal! Be confused by my presence!_

Hermes turned his head, looking slightly baffled. His dark brown hair was in a mess as he looked at the demigods with startled blue eyes. George and Martha hissed to attention.

"Travis…?" His voice was weak and crackly. He seemed genuinely _drained_ and confused. He rubbed his hand over his face.

Calypso gasped. "Hermes, what _happened_ to you?" the rest of the demigods were in shock themselves, a little unsure if this was even Hermes himself.

A smile found its way onto the god's face as he recovered from his confusion. "You're still alive?" he let out a small chuckle of disbelief. "I… We thought you were dead. We thought _all_ of you were dead. Of course, Hades couldn't tell us much since the Underworld has been stripped away from his dominion."

"Wait…" Nico straightened up. He stood beside Jason, leaning on him slightly since he hasn't fully recovered from his wound. "Hades is in _Olympus_?!"

"Yes, indeed he is." Hermes nodded. "You see, Gaea didn't just come back, she brought a buddy along with her. She's managed to rouse Tartarus from his little stink-hole and now he's taken control over the Underworld. Every poor soul that goes down there, or ever was down there, now faces punishment and damnation. No matter if your good, or bad, or just asphodel-class, you get punished. The monsters are overrunning it, feeding the Cocytus with those who have wasted away. Hades's palace, though extremely strong, has sustained a similar condition as this fountain." He gestured to the half-crumbled fountain behind him. "Shaken badly, but the foundations are still standing. Well, most of it."

Percy choked at the mention of Tartarus. "He's with Gaea?" He exclaimed.

Hermes's tired eyes flicked over to him. "As far as we know, he's made an obvious deal which doesn't make him all that dangerous- yet." He paused, looking down at the two snakes curled around his staff. He sighed. "You see, in the past war Gaea has made deals and negotiations with certain monsters in exchange for them to kill you. This time, Tartarus, as the father of all monsters, has given her the power and authority to command them. She doesn't have to bribe them and can simply order them to do whatever. In return, Tartarus gets the upper chambers of darkness to add to his realm. He's lazy and likes to stay out of the way by nature, so he lets Gaea do all the fighting as he stays down there, comfortable and ruling the lower regions. Underworld aside, he's also taken the lower realms once ruled by titans like Oceanus." His eyes moved back to Percy. "That means part of the ocean."

Percy's eyebrows knit. There was a short pause in the conversation. "You mean…" Percy spoke. "He hasn't taken over the part which Poseidon rules yet?"

Hermes nodded. "But your father, same as Hades, has fled to Olympus before his domain was cut-off from everything else. You may have noticed the monsters surrounding every close body of water? Yes, that's cutting Poseidon off from the upper seas. The monsters are holding some barrier there- like an invisible shield. Gaea has taken the domains of Zeyphrus and Boreas as well, meaning she controls the winds in these parts. She's trying to take the domain of every god there is- that's how she'll rule. You three," he gestured to Leo, Jason and Piper. "You've prevented her from gaining full access to the earth. That's why she can't sense your whereabouts yet. But if she gains enough energy she'll be able to reclaim that power and there will be no escape."

"Then fight her." Jason urged. "Make Olympus a fortress and fight her."

Hermes, for a moment, stared at him as if he'd just turned green and burst into flames while doing the Macarena. Then he laughed. No, he _cackled._ He cackled so loudly and clapped his hands as if it was the funniest thing ever.

The demigods looked to each other, confused.

"Oh, that is _hilarious_." He sighed, wiping a tear from his eye. After recovering, he cleared his throat and set himself straight. "Look, making Olympus a fortress?" he had to resist the urge to laugh again. "Kid, Manhattan is surrounded, cut-off from every demigod outside. You know why? It's the first layer of the siege."

"Siege?" Piper asked.

"Yes. Olympus is under siege. There are monsters, the most powerful ones, surrounding the Empire State Building." Said Hermes. "The biggest and baddest drakons, the Minotaur, Medusa, even Echidna- mother of monsters. Thankfully, Typhon's still imprisoned in the depths of the ocean, still in Poseidon's territory… but once Gaea gets a hold of his domain…" He winced. "Yeah, that would confirm the end- Typhon free, the gods reduced and weakened, and Tartarus out and about. Dying wouldn't really be much of a relief either.

"And as for fighting her… Well, we can't even try. How do you think she got Iris, Zeyphrus and the other minors' powers? They tried to fight her, and the only way to do that is when in your true form- you know, supernova form. But that leaves you exposed and she'll be able to take your powers. We can't risk that. We'd fade. We'd _die._ "

They were silent once again. Hermes's speech made it sound like there was nothing that could be done. What was the point of getting into Manhattan if that was the case? They would simply be trapped between two blockades of monsters and Gaea might find where they are.

"But Hermes," Piper started. "How are _you_ outside of Olympus right now?"

The god smiled. "I have my ways." He said. "I'm scouting, actually. Zeus is still putting up airways for us gods- but they can only be opened for a short period of time and only one or two gods may use them. It's a strain for Zeus, with Gaea's forces fighting him constantly. That's why it's so important to keep time. I have about thirty minutes before Zeus opens up an airway into Olympus- my only chance to get back in. If not, they'll assume I've been captured. Zeus will not risk another scout, after what happened to Ares…"

They tried to ask him about Ares, but he hushed them, refusing to speak of it. So Percy changed the subject.

"So on to why we called you in the first place." He deadpanned over the pleading voices of the others still trying to know about Ares.

"Hm?" Hermes turned to him. "Ah, yes. I don't suppose you need _more_ doomsday information?"

Calypso shook her head. "No, Hermes. We were… we were actually hoping you could get us into Manhattan." She explained. "Maybe we-"

"No." Hermes cut her off. "No. You _can't._ What hopes do you have that coming here will do you any good?"

"Are there demigods there?" Leo pleaded. "Do you know of any survivors at all?"

Hermes gave him a hard look, but Leo didn't so much as flinch. The demigods glared back, wanting to know more.

Finally, Hermes relented. He sighed, casting his eyes down. "I don't know." He said quietly. "I don't know if there are any demigods here. I can't go too far from Olympus. This very place… this very fountain is the boundary of how far I can scout for other forces against us. I'm not… I can't really detect other demigods, if there are any close at hand. At any rate, we can't help them. How are we to do that if we can't even help ourselves?" He laughed bitterly. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can help you."

He was quiet again for a long time. None of the demigods dared to speak. Martha and George, the two snakes, curled upwards and whispered in Hermes's ear. After a while of consideration, he sighed.

"Fine." He muttered. He turned to the demigods. "I have to tell you that this is the last time I go out of Olympus, meaning if you are ever foolish enough to get into Manhattan, you won't be finding any godly help. Ares was our first scout, he was doing well, reporting back and killing some of the monsters, until he got captured, of course. The old fool was stupid enough to burst into his true form, and now Gaea has the rage of War and a higher thirst for blood. Ares has faded, and I hate him for that. But any way you look at it, there's no point in getting into Manhattan."

"So you're telling us that the world _can't_ be saved?"said Piper. "That there's nothing we can do? That we're doomed to wait our lives out in a hole and face eternal hell on the other side?" She scoffed. " _No._ We have to fight somehow. I don't care if we die trying, succeeding or not. At least we go out trying to save something, not cowering and praying hopelessly," she looked Hermes up and down. "Like _you_ are."

Everyone knew what she meant by _you._ All the gods, especially Zeus. All of them are locking themselves in Olympus and not daring to come out. They _had_ made Olympus a fortress, as Jason said, but they weren't fighting back.

"I told you," Hermes said, his voice rising slightly. "Trying to fight her would just give her more power. Is that what you want? To give her a faster rate of dominion? If she gets enough power she'd be able to take the remaining gods' by _force._ We won't have to change into our true form anymore- she'd suck the blood right out of us. And even if we fight it's not like we'd be doing anything good or heroic. In fact we'd be offering ourselves up on a silver platter." He glared at Piper. "I'm not saying you should hide in a hole until you expire. I'm saying fighting is the same as giving ourselves up. We won't be saving anything."

George and Martha hissed nervously around the staff, coiling and recoiling themselves around it.

 _Hermes,_ Percy heard Martha whisper to the god, the signal being picked up in his head. Judging by the look of the rest's faces, they could hear her too.

 _Hermes,_ Martha spoke again. _The least you could do is tell them._

"Tell us what?" Percy said.

Hermes gave the snake a look, but he turned to the demigods. "Well," he started. "There is a small chance here though. On Ares's last report, he'd watched the raid in Camp Half-Blood, but he was too late. The monsters were retreating back to the bridges and they'd already slaughtered the demigods. He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw some pegasi in flight, just before the monsters reached the bridges. There might, in fact, be some demigods here, if they haven't already been killed. Then there is also the number of demigods who lived in New York." Surprisingly, he chuckled, just a bit. "Imagine just spending some quality time with that parent who didn't abandon you as a child and kept your secret as a demigod, relaxing in the living room, talking about camp, and then _poof,_ they turned to stone. Then you're just there, trying to figure out what in the Hades happened before the monsters raid your house."

Calypso crossed her arms. "I don't see what's so funny about that." She said.

Hermes ignored her. "But you see," he continued. "Martha may be right about her suspicions." He gave a sideward look at said snake. "If there _are_ any demigods in the city, we can't find them, nor can they reach us. Like I've said, the Empire State Building is surrounded."

"Then we'll find them." Travis insisted. "We'll group together and form a resistance until we find a way to defeat Gaea."

Hermes pondered his words for a moment. It was obvious he'd spoken for the rest of them, it was obvious what they had in mind. Well, enough harm has been done. It was hopeless, really, but maybe- just maybe- they could do something about it. After all, they've done extraordinary things before, and they had Percy Jackson. As always, the demigods were their last hope.

"Alright," Hermes concluded. The demigods exchanged excited grins. "I might be able to talk to Hades and he could give your dog-" he pointed to Mrs. O'Leary who gnawed at a drakon bone in the corner. "- a boost with her shadow-travelling. As far as I see it it's the only way. Flying is useless, really- they have giant, furry, winged mutations." He shivered. "Echidna and her nightmares."

Percy looked to Nico. "Hades can do that?" He asked.

Nico shrugged as best he could. "I guess so." Then he turned to Hermes with an unexpectedly mischievous grin. "Do you think he could give me a boost too?"

"Maybe," Hermes answered plainly, though they could see a twinkle in his eyes.

"Then we're in business." Calypso smiled.

Hermes was supposed to say something more, probably a warning, but a crack of thunder resounded through the smoke image. The god looked up and sighed. "That's my cue." He said. "I have to go, it's my last time out of Olympus, but I will contact you via Hermes line." He smiled, putting on his winged helmet. The tiny white-feathered clumps started to flutter in time with the wings on his shoes. "Until then, hang tight. I'll persuade Hades, no problem."

And with that, he took off, the smoke mirror collapsing in on itself and fading away.

The demigods looked at one another, unsure of what to do next.

"I supposed we wait." Nico said in answer to the hanging question and flopped down on the closest couch. He glanced at Mrs. O'Leary. "Shadow travel it is."

* * *

 **Yay! Another chapter done! More action in the next one, folks!**

 **Ciao! (p.s. If any of you have any information about upcoming Green Day concerts/songs/albums, let me know please I beg. 0_o )**

 **~Apollo'sFabulousDaughtah**


	6. Chapter 6

"Gods, it smells like Hades back here."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Nico."

They were crouched behind a dumpster just a few blocks from Brooklyn Bridge. They were still gathering their wits after seeing the hordes of monsters they would soon have to pass by. Percy was slightly more prepared for them having seen the monsters beforehand. What he wasn't prepared for, however, was the plan and how they would have to execute it.

They've been practicing for days. Hermes had helped them, taught them a new way on how to use their powers. Now left no room for error. One mistake could land them in a monster marsh. They had to be careful not to draw too much attention.

Sure, the task was near impossible, but so were a number of things happening now. They could do this. They could pull it off.

"You ready?" Percy whispered over his shoulder. The demigods nodded.

They slunk through the alleyways, making sure to keep the water on their left. Hermes had promised Zeus would help and cover the sky in a wispy gray mist, like the clouds before a light drizzle. And so it was- no thunder, no lightning, no rain. Just a gray, overhanging sky. They hoped to get above the winds fearing that Gaea might sense them there. They had to do it swift and silent.

Finally, they reached the spot. The Brooklyn Bridge was now half a mile away to their left. A low railing at the edge of the highway marked the boundary where the water lay past. The monsters were mostly dracaena, who weren't very good at spotting from a distance.

Percy cracked open a water pipe that lined against an apartment building's outer wall. He nodded to Jason who began to twist and turn the air around them. Percy let small droplets of water materialize around his hands, slowly fading away in swirls to join the wind Jason was creating. The air started to heat up, the surroundings started to get foggy.

"It's working." Calypso whispered in awe. They were creating a mist, a real mist, to hide them from view. Calypso would provide the magical mist alteration to complete the illusion.

Leo hauled up a polished bronze platform, four times bigger than a shield. Its top surface was flat and round, but a slight alteration around the edges allowed it to be easily picked up by the wind should its flight mechanism underneath fail. Leo set his platform down on the asphalt as the demigods stepped onto it, crouching for fear of falling off.

"You couldn't have installed seatbelts or handles?" Travis complained, crouching next to Piper.

"Hey," Leo snapped. "I had two hours to think of something out of the blue."

"You couldn't have thought of handholds?"

"Shh!" Calypso hissed, silencing the two before the conversation could turn into a heated argument.

The air swirled around them, condensing into a thick white smoke that would blend in almost perfectly with the clouds. Percy just needed to add the finishing touch. He took more and more water from the pipe, letting it join the mist in droplets at a time until the air started to swirl into a grayish color.

"Not too much water," Jason warned. "Or else we'll leak." Leo snickered at that and Piper had to slap him. Again.

"Ready?" Leo asked, rubbing the back of his head where Piper hit him. There was a collective nod and he reached under the platform, feeling for…. ah, there it was. He flipped the switch and the platform shuddered and started to hum faintly beneath their feet. "Hold on." Leo said with a wicked grin.

The platform rose, Jason and Percy kept the mist around it, like the atmosphere of a rapidly moving planet. They rose higher and higher until the shadows of buildings were below their feet. Leo kept his fingers on the switch as they rose, waiting for Jason's signal.

He'd recently learned that he could sense the air pressure around him without needing to use his eyes, and therefore tell how high in the atmosphere they were. It was one of the things Hermes had taught him. The god had also taught Percy how to thin the water in his control to fade in with humid air- enough of which could turn into mist with the proper control. Jason just had to keep the air conditions right to form a thin, hollow cloud as Percy kept adding water.

Needless to say, it came in handy to learn a few more tricks during the apocalypse.

"Here," Jason said, holding up a hand. Leo complied by flipping the switch stopping the platform. Thankfully, no one was tossed off into the gray abyss.

They were above the clouds now, the air was, in fact, slightly harder to breathe.

"Couldn't there be walls?" Piper whined, closing her eyes shut. They were so high up, on a bronze platform, without any harnesses, safety rails, or handholds to keep them from falling off.

"I told you, I had _two hours."_ Leo grunted back. "Besides, we need as little weight as possible, and we can't attract any attention."

"How are tiny ropes heavy or attention-attracting?" Piper growled. She just found that she hated heights even more when she can't see exactly how high she is but _knows_ how high she'd fall.

"Okay, okay," Leo said. "I'm just going to move us forwards now. Jason, tell me when to stop."

The humming started to get just slightly louder around half the edge of the platform. They propelled forward, more or less, with Jason pointing where to go. They moved slowly, maybe three miles per hour, or it could be their ADHD acting up. After about ten minutes, Percy stiffened and half-stood.

"We're crossing the water now," He said, then looked over at Leo and Jason. "Don't screw up."

It was a world record of fifteen whole minutes before something wrong happened. Of course something wrong happened.

Something crashed into the platform from below, jolting all the demigods upward.

"Ahh!" Leo exclaimed and pulled back his hand. Two of his knuckles were bleeding, the platform started to malfunction.

"Was that an arrow?" Travis said, clinging onto the edge of the bronze platform. "Or… Or a javelin?"

"No one knows but that definitely means we're not safe." Percy said and turned to Jason. "How high are we?"

Jason looked rather baffled and… confused. And surprised. "I- I don't… I think we're still…" He stuttered. The platform's humming began to go irregular before beginning to fall. Jason managed to catch them but this caused him to lose focus on the mist and Percy couldn't retain it.

They were exposed. They could see what was happening.

The grey clouds hung at arm's length above them and several hundred feet below them lay a glittering mass of river-water. At both sides were entire armies of monsters, snarling and snapping at them from below.

"Oh. My. Gods." Nico gasped. They fumbled for their weapons though they knew they wouldn't do much good.

"Jason?" Piper put a hand on his shoulder. Jason wasn't looking too good… in fact he looked like he was having a fever. The platform faltered, causing everyone to scream, before it stabilized again.

"Jason," Nico said firmly. "You have to turn the platform around, fake that we're going back, get us above the clouds and turn around again."

"I…"Jason muttered, swaying a little. His eyes weren't focused, he was breaking out in a sweat. "I-I don't…"

Piper caught him by the shoulders, but it was too late. The platform fell. The monsters jeered. The demigods held on for dear life. Percy gathered his wits just enough to summon a water spout that pushed them high enough above the clouds, got them all wet, and they fell forward again.

Weapons and winged monsters rained down on them but they were falling too rapidly. A javelin managed to push the bottom of the platform so it evened out as the demigods screamed louder than any monster roar ever heard.

They skidded off the top of a roofed building, exploded on a chimney of another, and promptly flew off in different directions landing in alleyways, highways, and car roofs.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the seven of them found themselves scattered around New York.

* * *

 **Yay chapter done! Wish me luck peeps, it's my first day of school tomorrow! #BackToHell #BackToDoingStuff**

 **It's gonna be another year of memories, experience, and math problems. Terrifying, mind-numbing math problems. I hate math and you can't tell me otherwise.**

 **So yeah…. Imma update again soon! Beyaw!**

 **~Apollo'sFabulosDaughter**


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